New Director Appointed

Dr. W.M.C. Bandara Wanninayake has been appointed as the Director of Staff Development Centre - University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka from 05th May, 2015 as the former Director, Prof. Dilkushie Wettewe - Department of English Language Teaching - completed her 03 year tenure on the 04th May, 2017.

Dr. Wanninayake is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Department of Marketing Management of the Faculty of Commerce & Management Studies. He is a scholar in Marketing, Management, and Consumer Behaviour.

Latest Events

Duties and the Responsibilities of employees

One day workshop on “Duties and the Responsibilities of employees” organized by the Staff Development Centre (SDC) of the University of Kelaniya was successfully held on the 28th of September at the Auditorium of the SDC under the patronage of Mr. W.M. Karunaratne, the Registrar. Read More

Certificates Awarding Ceremony of the Tamil Certificate Course for Non-Academic Staff Members

The certificates awarding ceremony of the Tamil Certificate Course for non-academic staff members of the University of Kelaniya (1st batch) organized and conducted by Staff Development Centre (SDC) with the collaboration of Department of Linguistics was successfully held on the 17th of August 2017 at the Staff Development Centre. Read More

A Staff Development Workshop

A workshop organized by the Staff Development Centre of the University of Kelaniya was held on the 31st of August 2017 at “Goldi Sand Hotel” in Negombo to enhance the leadership skills of administrative officers of the University.A lecture on “Leadership Skills” was delivered by the Cooperate Trainer Mr. Chandrasiri Satharasinghe and a lecture on “Music Therapy for Relaxation and Stress Management” was delivered by Mahanama Wickramasinghe, the Head of the Department of South Indian Music of the University of the Visual and Performing Arts.

The Certificate Awarding Ceremony of the Staff Development (SD) programme for probationary lecturers conducted by the Staff Development Center (SDC) of the University of Kelaniya was held on the 30th of June 2017. The SD Programme is designed for university teachers who are at the initial stages of their career. The successful completion of the induction programme, which is accredited by the University Grants Commission, fulfills the requirements for newly recruited staff members to successfully complete a staff development programme for purposes of confirmation in their positions as stipulated by the UGC Circular No. 721.

The course comprises of ten modules related to the professional development of a university teacher and involves at least 150 hours of intensive and participatory learning. The modules of the programme are; the Orientation as a University Teacher, Personal Development and Counseling, Teaching and Learning Methods, Assessment and Evaluation, Curriculum Design and Revision, ICT Skills in Higher Education, Teaching Practice, Research in Higher Education, University Administrative Procedures, Strategic Planning and Management.

This event was graced by Dr. Narada Fernando, the Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, Dr. Banardara Wanninayake, the Director of the SDC and many probationary lecturers from the university of Kelaniya, University of Moratuwa, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, University of Colombo Bhiksu University of Sri Lanka and University of Vocational Technology. This was the 18th cycle of the SD programme conducted by the SDC of the University of Kelaniya since its inception in 1998. The Staff Development Programme of the University of Kelaniya offers the only ISO 9001-2008 quality certified training in the university system in Sri Lanka.

Staff Development Workshop

The non-academic staff members were informed about maintaining Inventory Registers at a workshop held on the 29th of June 2017 at the Staff Development Centre (SDC). This workshop was organized by the Staff Development Centre (SDC).

Mr. C.G. Kothalawala, the Senior Assistant Internal Auditor, Internal Audit Division of the University of Kelaniya, explained how to maintain an accurate and up-to-date record of assets within the University for security and information purposes. This event was participated by Dr. Bandara Wanninayake, the Director of the Staff Development Centre (SDC) and non-academic staff members of the University of Kelaniya.

Academics, researchers and experts involved in promoting Continuing Professional Development in Higher Education in Sri Lanka gathered on the 2nd and 3rd of March at the National Forum on Continuous Professional Development 2017 organized by the Staff Development Centre, University of Kelaniya

The National Forum on Continuous Professional Development 2017, the first ever to be organized by a Staff Development Centre of a state university received tremendous response from academics and other stakeholders. The forum was the first of its kind to be organized by a university and brought together researchers, experts in the private and public sectors and policy makers in the field to share their experience and expertise on staff development and to create a dialogue on CPD.

The theme of the forum was “ CPD: A challenging opportunity’. The sub themes of the forum were:

Continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers in higher education in the current context.

The role of CPD as a performance assessment, an appraisal system and a reward scheme for teachers in higher education.

Technology for CPD to enhance the flexibility of delivery and user interest.

The forum was organized with the aim of enhancing awareness on the importance of continuous professional development in academia. CPD is widely recognized as fundamental to the development of standards and skills of individuals, to take appropriate actions by individuals to reach a higher level in their respective career.

The forum focused attention on CPD as a process that enhances professionalism of an academic through continuing development that will pave the way to become an efficient teacher, researcher, an administrator and a practitioner contributing towards institutional and national development.

It also showcased best practices from several universities and inspired a much needed dialogue on CPD in its current context in higher education.

The forum provided a great opportunity, for the first time, for practitioners, educators, teachers and researchers in the field to share the latest developments and best practices.

Event Updates

Workshop on SER

Strategies to evaluate the quality of a study programme, understanding the Self Evaluation Report, preparation of the SER were topics that were discussed at a workshop conducted by Prof B D Nandadeva on the 8th of May, 2017 at the Staff Development Centre. The training programme was conducted for staff members of the Faculty of Humanities.

Fire Safety

Around 50 non academic staff members of the University of Kelaniya took part in a fire safety training programme organized by the Staff Development Centre of the University of Kelaniya. It was held on the 21st of November with the participation of staff members from all faculties in the university. The training programmes was conducted by Mr Kamal Wilson, the deputy chief fire officer of the Fire Service Department, CMC.

Presentation skills: redefined

Creating attention grabbing slides, keeping audiences captivated, and tips in designing professional presentations were discussed at a workshop organized by the Staff Development Centre on the 26th of September 2016. The guest speaker was Professor B D Nandadeva, from the Visual Arts & Design and Performing Arts Unit of the University of Kelaniya. The workshop is the first in a series of continuing professional development workshops at the Faculty of Humanities.

Laboratory safety and maintenance

The technical officers of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka took part in a training programme focusing on laboratory training and maintenance on the 24th of September at the University of Kelaniya. The one day workshop focused on fire safety, lab safety and maintenance, lab waste management, basic first aid and life support, and bio safety.

A workshop on ‘University Purchase Procedure, Assets/ Recording and Maintenance of Inventory registers was conducted by the Staff Development Center of the University of Kelaniya on the 23rd of October, 2014. Mr H M N C Herath, the Deputy Bursar and Mr C G Kothalawala, Senior Assistant Internal Auditor conducted the workshop for the non-academic staff members of the university.

A workshop on curriculum development was conducted on the 14th of July 2014 at the SDU auditorium by Prof Priyanvada Abeywickrama. It was open to probationary lectures at the University of Kelaniya.

Priyanvada Abeywickrama is an associate professor at San Francisco State University where she teaches in the MA TESOL Program in the English Department. Her research interest is in language assessment, specifically examining issues of validity. She presents regularly at the annual TESOL conference, American Association of Applied Linguistics conference and the Language Testing Research Colloquium. She is the co-author of Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices.

A workshop on research skills was conducted on the 16th of July 2014 at the SDU auditorium by Prof L R Jayasekera. It was open to probationary lectures at the University of Kelaniya.Prof L R Jayasekera is a senior professor and Chair of Botany at the Department of Botany, University of Kelaniya. He teaches Cell biology, plant biochemistry, and plant physiology. His research interests focus on comparative studies on chemical composition, biogeochemistry of tropical plants, rice weed management using botanicals and liquid fertilizers for urban agriculture. Prof L R Jayasekera is an expert trainer on learning and assessment practices, designing and running interactive staff development workshops for university academics, enhancing research competencies and computer assisted teaching, learning and assessments. He was a former director of the Staff Development Unit (SDU) of the University of Kelaniya.

A Safety Training Workshop was conducted from 28th July 2014 to 1st August 2014 by the Faculty of Science Staff Development Unit. It was open to Technical Officers and Lab Attendants at the University of Kelaniya.

A workshop on “GENDER AS A SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL AND COGNITIVE CATEGORY : EXPLORING GENDER BASED ISSUES AMONG UNDERGRADUATES/ACADEMICS/NON ACADEMICS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF KELANIYA, THAT AFFECT THE LEARNING,TEACHING AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT” was conducted by the Staff Development Center & the Center for Gender Studies, University of Kelaniya on Wednesday 29th OCTOBER 2014 at the SDC auditorium. The Workshop was conducted by the newly appointed Director of the Center for Gender Studies, Dr Sagarika Kannangara.

A Training Program on Administrative Procedures and Office Management was conducted on the 3rd of September and the 4th of September 2014 by the Faculty of Science Staff Development Unit. It was open to Technical Officers at the University of Kelaniya.

The Staff Development Programme Research Forum 2014 was held on the 7th of November at the SDC auditorium. Prof. M J S Wijeratne, chairman of the Research Council of the University of Kelaniya also graced the occasion. Dr Bandara Wanninnayake (Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies) , Dr Renuka Attanayake ( Faculty of Science) , Dr Semasinghe ( Faculty of Social Sciences) , and Prof D Wettewe (Faculty of Humanities) were members of the review panel on Day 1 of the forum. The second phase will be held on the 14th of November 2014. More than 40 participants following the SD 2014 programme from the University of Kelaniya, University of Colombo, University of Moratuwa, Rajarata University , Buddhist and Pali University, University of Vocational Technology, Trincomalee Campus, and the Sabaragamuwa University are expected to present their research findings.

The Functional English Certificate Awarding Ceremony was held at the Staff Development Center of the University of Kelaniya on the 27th of October 2014. Fourteen participants of the administrative staff received certificates from the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sunanda Madduma Bandara, after successful completion of the two courses (Part 1 and Part 11). The programme was conducted by the SDC along with the English Language Teaching Unit. The ceremony was attended by deans of faculties, Head of the ELTU and staff members of the University of Kelaniya.